In the Governor’s State of the State Address on January 14, 2003, he included a proposal for an increase in sales and use tax from 5.125% to 5.75%. In response to the $474 million in revenue required to avoid budget cuts, he mentions that this would be the easiest source of revenue to achieve politically. If the legislature does not agree to the tax hike, then it would turn to the possible elimination of some tax exemptions among other ways to remedy the deficit. (State of the State Address, Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, January 14, 2003)